Boots First
by dontaskimdissapointed
Summary: A young drop trooper is thrust into combat for the first time. He will have to learn fast in the cauldron of war or die. The conflict is not as simple as it would seem, and Sev will have his faith and better judgement put to the test.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first submission. I have written various fanfics in the past but none really came to any conclusion. I have been rolling the idea for this story around in my head for a while now. Comments and criticism welcome, feel free to pm me any suggestions too. I will try to update as regularly as possible, but I do have school.**

Sev wiped an imaginary speck of dust off of his elbow. Ryn was saying something to him but he couldn't quite catch it over the roar of the valkyries engines. Sev was seventeen and had been in the guard for two months now. Those two months had been spent on a huge troop transport ship with the rest of his regiment. He had gone from being a lanky teenager destined to be a fisherman to a professional soldier. At least in terms of logistics he was a professional soldier. In reality he and all the men of the regiment varied in confidence and all could do with more training.

Sev was a heavy weapons trooper. When he told people this he imagined that inspired images of him heroically sweeping a heavy bolter back and forth, cutting down the enemies of mankind with twenty five millimetres mass reactive shells. If questioned he would then be forced to sheepishly explain how that was not him. In reality he was the guy making sure that heavy bolter had twenty five millimetre mass reactive shells to fire. He had dark brown hair and freckles across his nose. And so there he was, sitting in the valkyrie with his squad, toting a tripod and two boxes of heavy bolter shells. A bullpup lasgun, favoured by drop troops, was securely strapped to his leg. He recalled his training. Jumping off of wooden platforms onto the metal deck. Hours spent blasting at wooden targets on low frequency. He and the men around him had spent the last two months preparing for this. They had become a tight nit group, able to go through the drills and manoeuvres efficiently and quickly. They may have never seen combat but, in their minds, they were as good as you could get without it.

The men were illuminated by the red glow of the drop light. Their ochre flak armour and grey fatigues were given a sickly glow. The sergeant was staring at his feet and fiddling with a button on his pants. The corporal with his flamethrower, the oldest man in the squad at nearly fifty, was playing with one of the dials on his gas tank. All of their faces were masked by the re-breathers worn by Rolandian Regiments. The only sign of the human underneath was through a heavily tinted green lenses. The re-breather itself was covered with a pale white canvas. The emotionless white mask gave no tell tales of the soldiers thoughts, but Sev was sure that many of them were muttering various litanies and blessing under their breaths, quiet enough that the vox beads would not pick them up.

There was a slam of G-force as suddenly the engines of the valkyrie flipped. The hatch gunners grimaced with knowing experience as the valkyrie dropped at a steep angle towards the landing zone. They were navy and, unlike the Rolanders, had probably done this countless times. There was a final blast of the engines which was replaced by a steady whine as they idled. The light flipped from red to green and the ramp dropped. The Sergeant visibly perked up.

"Boots First lads!" he shouted. The men echoed the drop troop slogan. They immediately started disembarking, one hand on the man in fronts shoulder, just like training. Ryn and Sev were last in line, and Sev didn't even get a chance to take a look outside before he jumped the metre drop between the hatch and the ground. And then he was off running. He could see his squad mates around him. They were blurred partly because of the lenses of his mask, but more so because of the dust and dirt being whipped in a frenzy into the air by the valkyries.

After a few more seconds of desperate sprinting the squad had made it out of the worst of the maelstrom of dust. After a second of hesitation the sergeant called the corporal to do a sound off. Every man was accounted for. They all knew what to do. The orders had been given before they had left orbit. The men slid into a line and moved to the edge of the clearing. Sev could now see that they were in a plaza. Tall building rose around them and behind. Where the majority of the valkyries were now leaving a tall monument stood, a giant man holding up an imperial eagle depicted in brass. A dark wrought iron railing separated the plaza from a road and the squad moved up to the fence and deployed.

Sev went through the motions of deploying the heavy bolter. He spun the tripod off his back. It got caught for an instant before he freed it from a loose strap and pushed out the leg. As soon as it was down he set to work opening the ammunition box. As he lifted the buckles there was a crunch as Ryn slid the heavy bolter into place. By the time Sev had placed the box and got the belt ready Ryn had the chamber opened, waiting for the belt. Only once everything was set did Sev allow himself to take in his surroundings.

What were probably hab or office blocks surrounded the plaza. Sev couldn't tell which he had never seen never mind been in a city before. A wide road ran around the plaza, separating it from the buildings. Trucks sat abandoned in the road way, doors hanging open and glass broken. Off in the distance smoke stacks could be seen through the haze. The buildings were very plain, being all rockcrete and iron. Sev couldn't imagine living in such a bland looking place but knew that life was like that on many imperial worlds and was in fact luxurious compared to others.

The last of the valkyries were disappearing into the distance and the entire company had finished forming the perimeter around the plaza. This was a mining city, dedicated to the retrieval and processing of ores from the nearby mountains. Contact had been lost three months ago and the imperial guard had finally arrived. While the majority of the imperial elements would be pushing in from the south, three companies of the Roland 7th Drop Regiment were to insert and disrupt the enemy, whomever they be, and make the main forces job easier. It all sounded a bit vague to Sev, and he had a nasty feeling that his first drop would be his last.

Sev sensed some movement behind him and looked to see the radio operator moving over to the sergeant. They conversed briefly and the sergeant nodded. He held up his hand and then motioned in a forward action twice. A second later and the heavy bolter was packed back up. There was a burst of vox chatter and the entire company moved down the western most road, towards the smoke stacks. Minutes later and the company was out of sight. A scrap of waste drifted across the plaza lazily in the gentle breeze.

The buildings seemed to close in over head. They had been marching down the wide industrial rode for five minutes now and there was no sign of the enemy. A poster depicting a stoic looking guardsman running through a xenos below "Fight for the Emperor, join the guard!" in huge red letters flapped in the breeze that ran through the desolate streets. A dust bin was toppled next to it and a rats tail disappeared in as Sevs squad passed by. They were close to the rear of the column and Sev was trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He itched under his helmet, right beneath where the imperial eagle sat on the ochre stahlhelm style helmet. Everyone was on a razor edge.

Suddenly there was a call from a squad a little up ahead. He looked to where an arm was pointing just in time to see what looked like a twinkle of light disappearing. The column kept moving but the platoon's lieutenant came running back.

"Charlie squad, the major wants you to check the building and report in" the lieutenant barked, the order slightly muffled by the rebreather.

It struck Sev that Charlie was their squad. The sergeant nodded and with a wave of his hand the squad broke off from the column, which continued marching. The squad formed up around the entrance of the building in question as they had in training. Sev clipped the box magazine onto his waist and slid his lasgun off his shoulder. The heavy bolter would probably be next to useless in the confines of the building. Ryn did not have the luxury of being able to wield his lasgun carrying the heavy bolter proper, and it was Sev's job as loader to cover Ryn. The men had bullpup laguns at ready as the corporal kicked in the door. The squad filed in with Sev and Ryn towards the back with the flame thrower at the front and a squad mate behind them.

They were in a hallway that led broke of into a T, two ends forming a lateral hallway and the long end leading to a stairwell that presumably formed an identical arrangement on the other three floors. The flash of light, whatever it was, had been in a balcony of the fourth floor. The squad ignored the hallway and proceeded cautiously up the stairs. Once on the top floor they began moving down the hallway. The movement was awkward, with each squad member covering another, but Sev noted it was coming along nicely since training. When they got to the room in question they went through the same breaching action as before with the corporal kicking in the door and the flamethrower coming through.

The room they were in looked like a hab. It was unsurprisingly as dismal as the exterior of the building. Light came through the window that led to the balcony, picking up the dust that drifted lazily down. The room had plaster walls that looked grimy. A double bed sat in one corner. There were some basic furnishings; a dresser, table and chairs, a wardrobe. A tiny kitchen was situated in a semi closed off area of the room. A greasy oven and counter could be seen. There was nothing out on the balcony aside from a piece of paper that was held against the bars of the railing by the wind. The squad leader stepped out. He looked around with confusion and then sniffed the air.

"Smells like ozone" he muttered and then stepped back in. He waved the radio operator over and took the vox horn. After relaying what little there was to be told to the lieutenant he gave the vox back. Five minutes later they were back out of the building, taking just as much precaution leaving as entering. The company had long disappeared out of sight but the sergeant knew where they were headed.

It was strange. Before, marching with the column, there had been a sense of fear. But at least there was over a hundred armed men around. Now there were nine and everyone was silent and apprehensive. They moved at a decent paste past the empty rockcrete buildings and occasional derelict truck. They paused briefly around lunch time to rest and eat.

Sev slung his lasgun off his shoulder and dropped his bag, the tripod and the ammunition. The squad sat up against an overturned truck and prepared to eat. They pulled masks down over their necks and tucked into rations and canteens. The radio operator, who had been at the back of the squad, had been throwing looks over his shoulder the last ten minutes. It was after he finished his MRE that he leaned over. He moved to say something to Sev but was interrupted by a loud crack. Not the crack that lasguns made as they ionized photons. It was a much deeper sound, that of a propellant weapon. Every man in the squad leapt for the cover of the nearest hab. Every man except for one.


	2. Chapter 2

**This one only took a day to complete so I hope it doesn't lack in quality. I was amazed by how well received the first chapter was and I really appreciate the reviews and follows. If you guys have any suggestions, be it syntax corrections or where you want the story to go then feel free to PM or say in the reviews. I will probably have another chapter out by tomorrow or the day after. Again, thanks so much for the encouragement.**

"Move it, move it!" hollered the sergeant, his voice muffled by the mask. Sev snatched up his bag and gun as quick as he could. His canteen clattered to the ground and he didn't bother trying to grab it as he desperately sprinted for the cover of a doorway. There was another bang. It sounded terrifyingly loud, as it echoed back and forth down the silent road. There was a crack and chunks of rockcrete smacked against Sev's fatigues. He kept running. He huffed a sigh of relief as he skidded to a halt in the safety of the entrance way. Sarge, Ryn and two of the other guardsmen were with them. Across the street, in an identical doorway, the rest of the squad was cowering. Sev looked into the street. There was the radio man.

It was the first time Sev had seen a dead man. He was laying face down, his arms at awkward angles. A pool of blood was spreading out around him, following the lines and cracks in the road. The radio was on his back and his las gun lay in the road. It had been knocked over when the man had crumpled. A few discarded items also lay around the truck. Sev's canteen as well as some other pieces of equipment that had been forgotten in the men's desperate sprint for cover. Three men had forgotten their bags, the sergeant included.

On of the guardsmen peered out from behind the rockcrete wall of the entrance way. There was a bang and he ducked back. He was rewarded for his efforts with another crack as chunks of masonry flew off the wall.

"Sniper up there somewhere sarge" the man said matter of factly.

"You don't say" The sergeant snarled. He looked around, hoping for an obvious and immediate solution to present itself to him. None came.

"We need to call for back up. We need that radio. Thompson, you stick something out to get the snipers attention. Corporal Alyn, get ready to see where the shot came from".

Sev was still in a state of shock but he had regained his senses enough to be impressed with the sergeant's level headedness. Thompson, one of the guardsmen on their side of the street stuck his shovel out and a second later the corporal across the road snuck a glance. There was a bang and the shovel shot back. There was a whizzing sound and the wall on the other side of the entrance showered chunks of rockcrete and dust. Had Thompson not pulled the shovel back there would be a sizable hole in it. The corporal had ducked back as soon as the shot was fired.

"Well?" The sergeant called across.

"Ya... ya I saw him. About ten apartments down. Our side of the street" he croaked. Sev couldn't see his face but he sounded scared.

"Alright, Ryn, you get upstairs and set up that bolter. We're going to need covering fire. Dono, you're going to grab that vox".

"Yes s-sir" Dono replied. If Alyn sounded scared, Dono sounded like he was about to piss himself. There was a crash as Ryn kicked in the door. Sev pushed past him embarrassed, realising it was his place to go first. There was an unspoken decision between them. If there were enemies in this building, then hopefully they would have shown themselves by now. They dashed up the stairs as quickly as their gear would allow them and made their way down the hall. Sev kept his lasgun at the ready just to be safe. He kicked down the door of the apartment. It looked almost identical to the other hab they had been in earlier, with slightly different furnishings. Sev took a few steps and then dropped prone. It would be better not to let the sniper know of their presence. Sev looked back and Ryn was right behind him. They crawled as close to the window as they dared. With a click the tripod was deployed, seconds later the heavy bolter was set up. Sev held the huge belt up slightly from the ammunition box. The heavy bolter could fire without being fed but anything to decrease the chances of a jam could be lifesaving. Ryn racked the slide and the first massive bolt clacked into place.

"We're ready up here sir" Sev mumbled down to the sergeant over the vox bead.

"Alright you heard him Dono. As soon as they start firing you go. On your mark Ryn" The sergeant replied.

Ryn counted ten houses down from the apartment where his comrade was even now preparing to run into the open. It took him a second but sure enough there it was. It was barely noticeable but a bulky flash suppressor could be seen poking over the lip of the balcony. The sniper must have been lying flat in the apartment. Ryn pointed and Sev spotted him too. Ryn wouldn't be able to see the sniper over the barrel flash and propellant smoke so it was Sev's job to spot. Ryn adjusted the iron sights and let his breath half out. And then he depressed the trigger.

Sev could never fully prepare himself for the impossibly loud banging. He held the belt loosely over his hands as it was greedily eaten by the bolter with a clattering sound. Steaming casings the size of fists were shot out the opposite side. He watched as the mass reactive shells went to work blasting huge chunks of the building outwards into the street. There were barely perceivable lines in the air where the bolter rounds had left their tiny rocket trails. Sev risked a glance down. Dono had made it to the radio. He was struggling with the straps, trying to free it from its owner's shoulders. And then it was free. He made it the last few metres to the sergeant and dove into cover. Ryn stopped firing.

There was a slight tinkle as the last few casing rattled to the floor and then silence. The damage to the opposing balcony was immense. The area around the balcony was torn to bits and chunks of masonry and railing lay in the street. Sev's throat stung from the propellant heavy in the smoky air of apartment and he spat a viscous lump of saliva. He couldn't imagine the sniper having survived such a withering barrage.

There was a loud curse from down below. Then a second of silence.

"The shot killed the radio. We got not contact with company boys" the sergeant said over the radio. "First things first, we have to kill this sniper. Ryn, you give covering fire. Everyone else, move along the side of the street he's on. Hopefully he won't be able to see us".

Sev couldn't see the sniper. He must have ducked back into cover. The men on the Sev's side of the street sprinted to the other side. No movement. The squad went single file along the wall, keeping themselves as tight to the wall with lasguns at the ready. No movement. It was as they drew closer to the entrance that Sev saw movement.

The sniper had reappeared two windows down. Sev pointed and yelled. Ryn was turning but it was too late. There was a bang and a soldier dropped. Ryn opened fire. Again the bolter roared. This time, barely discernable, there was the sound of meat exploding. Through the smoke, dust and fragments where the shells were landing Sev saw a red mist, just momentarily. The squad sprinted the rest of the way into the apartment. Seconds later there was a bang as a door was kicked down. Alyn appeared in the door of the second ruined balcony. He took a step back in shock. There work done, Sev and Ryn packed up and ran back downstairs.

One of the guardsmen was lying in the street. There was a huge hole almost dead centre in his chest and there was a pinkish red spray against the wall going at a downwards angle, the direction the bullet had gone. He lay slumped sideways slightly, his masked head leaning over his chest. He wasn't moving. The pair tried to avoid looking and continued on up the stairs. They came into the room where the sniper had been. The squad was staring in awe at the corpse and as the heavy weapons troopers pushed in so were they.

It was huge. It looked to be a bit over two metres but its broadness was more startling. It had dirty green skin and massive corded muscles. A hood covered its head with a pear of goggles over the eyes. Its equipment looked ramshackle to say the least and the sniper looked as if it logically couldn't function. But function it had. It was difficult to tell much else besides this because the greater part of the beast's chest had been blown out by the bolter rounds. But it was still easily identifiable. It was undoubtedly an ork.

"We need to get moving" the sergeant said. They had no time to stand around looking stunned at an ork.

They got out side and went to the dead guardsman. The corporal read him the last rights and they stripped him of his power cells and any other useful equipment. Then they did the same for the radio operator. It was inadequate but all they could afford in terms of time. Any equipment that had been abandoned was grabbed and the men moved off. The sun set behind them as they made their way down the road.

It was well after sunset by the time the squad decided to stop for the night. They had no map and travelling at night would be futile. A large square was bordered by a few industrial looking stores and an ecclesiarch church. They decided to not go breaking into a church and headed for one of the shops. It was two stories high and had long glass panels running its length. The wooden double doors were locked but the window was smashed in with a rifle butt and the door soon stood open before them.

The squad switched on helmet mounted flashlights as they advanced into the darkened store. There were rows of shelving racks holding bland looking food and Administratum issued magazines. They crept through the silent store, rifles and flashlights sweeping back and forth, checking every isle. Moonlight streamed down from skylights, making the dust that had been kicked up by their boots glint.

"Ryn and Sev, get that heavybolter facing out into the street. You two will be waking Tomas and Dono up in an hour. Alyn and Winn, you two are next; and then me and Soloman" the sergeant whispered. "You boys make a barricade for that bolter, the rest of you eat and get to sleep".

Ryn and Sev slunk to the front of the store. After moving around some of the lower shelves and flipping some storage crates they had made a barricade of sorts. The heavy bolter was soon set up and Sev sat down to eat while Ryn took first watch.

"Turn off that light would you Sev, I can't see a thing out there" Ryn hissed at him.

Sev obliged. He leaned back against the barricade and tucked into his MRE. It was after he was done that he picked up his water. To Sev's supreme horror it felt sticky and when he looked closer he saw that there was blood on it. The radio operator's blood. With a curse he wiped it off with the back of his cuff. It had been a stressful day. Although there had already been two deaths Sev didn't really feel like there had been real combat. Sure, the scurrying around under sniper fire had been terrifying but Sev felt that he hadn't seen a real fight yet. And the sooner he did the better, as the anxious nervousness of waiting was killing him.

The moonlit square was silent but all the same Ryn panned the massive machine gun back and forth. Some garbage drifted across the square in front of a statue of huge space marine, his head bowed and gun held against the ground in solemn prayer. An imperial poster, this one stating in huge red letters "The Emperor blesses the hard working", flapped in the wind. Ryn relaxed a little, ready for a long two hours.


	3. Chapter 3

Sev woke with a start. He sat up and took in his surroundings, expecting to see the familiar flow of steam from the vent at the end of his bunk on the troop transport. Then he remembered where he was. It was a second after remember where he was that he remembered how he wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep. He checked his watch. It was three hours after he and Ryn had been supposed to switch watch. Why the hell hadn't Ryn woken him? He looked over at Ryn, whose sleeping form was slumped across the gun.

Sev peered across the gun. He was about to shove Ryn awake when he saw a glint, as the moonlight caught something metal. There was movement out in the square. Sev gave Ryn a shove and he came too. They both tried to see what was moving through the darkness and the ground mist that had accumulated after dark. Sev activated his vox bead.

"Sarge, we got movement. You're going to want to get the men up here". There was a moment of silence and then the sergeant replied.

"Copy that private, we'll be with you in a second".

Sev tried to figure where the movement was coming from. Then he pinpointed it. There, by the statue. There were shapes getting closer. Fifty metres out he would guess and closing slowly. Seconds later the other six member of the squad were with them, lasguns at the ready. Ryn pointed and made sure that every man could see where the movement was coming from. There were scattered nods of confirmation as safeties were clicked off and barrels levelled.

"Single shot boys, don't waste your ammunition. Not unless they start charging. On my mark" The sergeant hissed. "3... 2... 1... FIRE!"

Again there was the tremendously loud roar of the heavy bolter. This time accompanied by the sharper cracks of the eight lasguns. Sev felt the familiar tug of the bolts travelling across his hands. The bolter was swept back and forth. Explosions brightened the dark square, lighting up the debris, ground mist and sprays of blood. The troopers picked targets where they could and fired away. There were the howls of xenos crying out in pain and then silence.

"Cease fire, cease fire!" the sergeant called out. Silence returned to the square as smoke drifted from the barrels of the guns and casings of the bolter.

"Helmet lights on" the sergeant ordered. Eight lights lit up the square. There were ork bodies, a rough estimate would be ten. They had been creeping forward under the cover of darkness, armed with huge knifes and boxy looking pistols.

There was another second of silence as the sergeant tried to decide what his next move. Alas the choice was made for him. There was a thump and then whoosh. A yellow red glow was added to the white of the helmet lights as a rocket streaked from a building across the square towards the shop. Sev barely had time to duck before it impacted.

The force of the impact sent Sev reeling from the barricade. He scrambled back, helping Ryn back to the bolter. He didn't bother even checking on the rest of the squad. There was no time. Across the square there were orks. They were pouring out of the buildings towards the hastily erected barricade. Crude weapons were spitting huge bullets with obscenely loud bangs at the cowering guardsmen. The bullets were fired on the run, with little effort put into accuracy. But it had the desired effect. Sev tried to stay as low as possible as bits of wood and chunks of metal were thrown into the air. An unlit lamp left sparking and hanging precariously from the ceiling due to the rocket hit crashed to the ground with a great flash and a loud crackling of wires disconnecting.

"Full auto, cut them down!" The sergeant screamed.

Ryn had regained himself enough to get firing. Again the heavy bolter barked. Sev watched as orks were caught mid step, heads and torso exploding, their arms flailing as they were knocked backwards. The other squad members had readied themselves enough to resume firing and the crack of lasguns added to the heavybolter. Red lines were stitched across the square as the lasguns tore into the orks on full auto. Sev was dismayed to see that they were not doing nearly the damage that the heavy bolter was. The impacts of the lasguns, which could bore through metal, were so small in comparison to the orks that the huge beasts were able to shrug it off. Worse still they would sometimes fail to even penetrate at all, reflecting up into the air off of tough hides. Despite this the lasguns were still able to do some damage. One of the orks near the front dropped to his knees then fell face first as las beams continued to slice into him.

"Aim for the head, try and drop them quicker" the sergeant ordered. In theory this seemed like a good idea, and the drop troopers had spent hours firing their bullpup lasguns at targets, but the real thing was different. It was hard to take the time to line up the sights with a target that was sprinting towards you with the intent of killing you and obscured by the darkness, gun smoke and mist. And added on to that there was what seemed like fifty others. But with the sheer number of shots being pumped out of six lasguns on full auto they were able to rack up some kills. There was a flash, accompanied by the crump of a grenade and two orks went flying, trailing blood from missing limbs.

The orks were drawing closer. The guardsman next to Sev was just clumsily slotting a new magazine in place when he cried out. His head had been poking just a little too high over the barricade and an ork slug had ripped the top of his head off. Chunks of helmet and brain mater were thrown against a nearby shelving unit. Sev grimaced and tried to keep his mind on keeping the bolter firing. The orks were dropping faster now. Then there was another thump. A second rocket streaked towards the guardsmen. There was an explosion, and then everything went black.

Sev opened his eyes slowly and then slammed them shut. There was a high pitched ringing in his ears and his head felt like there was a pick wedged into it. He opened his eyes again. Dono was shaking him, trying to pull Sev to his feet. Alyn was a few feet back from the shattered barricade, blood seeping out from under his mask. His arms were at weird angles and he wasn't moving. Everything seemed far too bright and the flashing barrel of the heavy bolter was hurting his head. Sev could see Thompson firing. There was a spray of blood and Thompson's head shot back. He was practically thrown onto the ground. Sev crawled to where his lasgun had fallen and groggily grabbed it, fingering the safety. Sound was slowly returning, with it came the crack of lasguns and more horrifyingly the bellowing of the orks drawing closer. The ringing finally died down as Sev heard a throaty roar. Lund was standing, seemingly ignorant of the slugs ripping past him. His expressionless mask was lit up by the liquid fire pouring out of his flamer.

Sev crawled up to the barricade. His head was pounding and he almost dropped back down in fear. The orks were close, so close in fact that he could see their red beady eyes. They seemed to flicker in the light of the flamer. The orks were sent reeling as about five of their comrades lay in front of the store, clawing at their melting flesh. There was a clatter to Sev's left as the last heavy bolter shells rattle through the feed tray.

The orks were falling back, and a few more were cut down as they fled. But the guardsmen knew they would be back. The square was covered in dead orks, the heavybolter having done most of the damage. There were a few still crawling around, missing limbs or with their guts hanging out. All in all, sev would guess that there was about fifteen or twenty out there. The carnage was immense. Steam rose from the bodies, cooling in the night air and it mingled with the smoke from the huge copper casings that now littered the square. There was a section of blackened cobble stones where the grenade had gone off and a multitude of tiny crater where bolter rounds had missed flesh and hit the ground. The mist seemed to be thickening and it was swirling around the corpses in the square.

Sev was just pulling a fresh box magazine from his backpack when Lund stopped him. The grizzled old special weapons trooper had a sad look in his eye.

"Sergeant, I'm going to request that you all leave out the back. You're going to need to regroup with the company. I'll hold them off" Lund said.

The sergeant looked stunned. There was an orkish voice shouting and a roar from the other orks in reply. They were going to be back any minute.

"I can't do that Lund, you're one of the best and the men look up to you" The sergeant said after a moment.

"I'm old sir. I can barely keep up and I doubt I'll make it through this conflict. The least you can do is let me see the bastards go down with me. Please" Lund sounded desperate. The sergeant thought about it for a second before replying.

"Alright, but Lund... you better make them regret coming here" the sergeant said with a smile. "Pack up boys; we're moving out in sixty seconds".

Lund turned back to the barricade as the rest of the men started gathering their gear and slotting fresh magazines into their lasguns. Once the heavybolter was packed away the four remaining men filed out towards the back of the store, all throwing Lund a final salute as they passed. Helmet lights were flicked off and they moved low to the ground, trying to stay as quiet as possible. They passed the downed light which was still throwing out a spark every few seconds. Behind they left three dead and one who would certainly be dead within the next ten minutes. Sev took one last look back at the old special weapons trooper and then he was out of sight. They turned a corner, pushed open a door, and were into the alley. They took off at a jog, trying to go as fast as possible without making too much noise. A few minutes later there was the roar as liquid promethium oxidized, the scream of orks, a cry of a human, and then silence.

The guardsmen picked up their pace. The fog had seemed to increase, and it was difficult to see thirty metres ahead. The sergeant and Dono were pulling ahead as the last four members of the squad ran. No on gave any though to stopping to break, knowing the orks were probably after them. It was after about an hour of jogging that the Sergeant noticed that Ryn and Sev were almost out of sight behind in the fog. They were slowed by the heavy weapon. The sergeant and Dono stopped and waited for the duo to catch up.

"What can we do to speed you two up, we need to get to the company" the sergeant said.

"Go on without us sir. The orks must be right behind us. You two need to let company know what happened. We'll hold them off" Ryn said. Sev was about to protest but realised how terrible it would look. The sergeant stared him down and then spoke.

"No Ryn. If we're going to stay then we'll all stay together. Let's be honest, we have no idea where the company is, and no way of regrouping without a vox. We might as well take the filthy xenos here"

The heavy bolter was deployed and the two other guardsmen lay prone, lasguns levelled down the road. They waited. Off in the distance there was a roar. The orks were drawing closer. Then suddenly there was a different a different noise. There was a piercing metallic scream and Sev felt a slight pain in his ears. Then silence. The mist swirled around the four drop troopers.

They lay there in the darkness for a long time. The mist swirled around them and Sev stretched his leg for fear of it cramping. He rubbed the lenses of his rebreather with his sleeve absent mindedly. There was blood, whether it belonged to the orks or his comrades was impossible to tell.

It was then that it hit Sev. He had been a real guardsman, on the ground, for less than twenty four hours. He had been separated from his company and seen over half of his squad killed. And here he was preparing for a last stand. Sev almost cried out in anger. This couldn't be it, this couldn't be all there was to fighting. All his life he had had the will of the emperor forced into him. He had been taught to hate the xenos; the heretic; the traitor. He had never planned on becoming a guardsman but when he had he'd been so proud. This couldn't be the end! It was then that the enemy came.

"This is it boys. It was short lived but I'm proud to call you lads brothers. Let's give 'em hell!" The sergeant said over the vox. There was a tone of finality in his voice.  
"Boots first" said Dono. It wasn't the right timing but for some reason it felt right.

But death did not come in the form of orks. There was a shriek, the same as before but this time much closer. Sev threw his hands up over his ears and shoved his head into the road. His head was pounding, worse than the explosion earlier. He felt liquid trickling down his ears. But he had been lucky. His hands had managed to take the edge off the sonic assault. It looked like the sergeant and Dono had been able to do the same thing but Ryn was rolling on the ground in pain. Sev gave him a shove and took over on the giant machine gun.

The figures running towards them were sure as hell not orks. They were clad in bone white armour and fiery red hair streamed behind them in the draft created by their speed. They looked very feminine, and their armour plates hugged the curves of their bodies. They held crackling power swords and alien looking pistols. With a roar of anger Sev opened up with the bolter. His shots hit the ground near him but he pulled the barrel up and the bullets stitched towards the sprinting xenos. They juked back and forth, moving with inhuman speed and grace. A las shot, more by pure weight of fire and chance then anything else, caught one of them leaving a cauterised hole in its torso. It clutched at the hole momentarily before two bolter rounds blew chunks out of it, dropping it to the ground.

They were closing though, and would be on the four drop troopers in seconds. Sev's hands were shaking furiously around the spoon of the bolter, not only because of the recoil

"This is it lads. It's been an honour fighting with you today, and you all served the Emperor brilliantly. I couldn't have asked for better men to command" he said, not using the vox beads. His voice was muffled by the rebreather mask and the swirling fog but he spoke with clarity and without fear. "Alright boys, fix bayonets!"

Sev dropped the heavybolter and grabbed his lasgun from where it lay on the ground next to him. He noticed that Ryn had regained himself, and had been feeding the heavy weapon. He was now fumbling with the bayonet on his waist. Sev did the same, sliding the bayonet out of its sheath. He slid it over the flash suppressor of the lasgun and clicked it into place.

"Let's not stand here with our dicks in our hands!" Shouted the sergeant. "For the Emperor, Charge!" It would be his last command.

The men ran forward. The enemy warriors faltered. They had not to expect the imperials to put up as much of a fight as they did, and they sure as hell didn't expect them to be counter charging. They had barely bothered with any pre charge precautions. And here they were with one of their members dead. It had been a costly mistake already. They opened up with their pistols.

The imperials charged. Sev felt the wind on the back of his head. His boots stomped against the ground as his legged moved as hard as they could. His veins were pumping with adrenaline and he realised that he was roaring at the enemy.

Dono was running just ahead of Sev when he was cut down. One second he was running. Then he was hit. His arms and head flew back and his torso was shredded. Whatever it was sliced through his flak armour like it was butter. He was thrown onto his back and writhed about before laying still. Sev didn't slow. He directed himself to one of the close warriors and put in a final burst of speed. He held the lasgun at waist height like a spear and as he closed he bellowed a war cry.

"In the Emperor's name, die xenos!" he bellowed. He lunged with the bayonet but the enemy easily side stepped, its crimson red mane trailing behind it. Sev desperately brought his leg around and kicked the alien's legs out. He jumped towards it, bayonet facing downwards aimed at its chest, but it rolled out of they way. Sev landed and rolled just as the alien's weapon made its strange metallic hissing sound. The ground was scored with deep grooves where Sev had just been. He sliced in an ark with his bayonet but again the alien dodged with incredible agility. Sev rolled to his feet and faced of the warrior again. He eyed it wearily as they circled, completely oblivious to the fight going on around them. Suddenly there was a yell.

"Sev, duck!" it was Ryn.

Sev obeyed, throwing himself to the ground. There was a series of cracks as a lasgun fired on full auto. The xenos dropped, cauterized holes slicing through its armour at multiple points. Sev again picked himself up.

"We need to get out of here, c'mon" Ryn called. Sev took off after him.

"Sarge?" Sev asked.

"Dead" wall all Ryn replied. Sev ran shoulder first at a door. It collapsed and he and Ryn sprinted through. They ran down a hallway with graffiti sprayed on the walls. When they got to the end Sev smashed out a window. One of the xenos warriors had appeared at the entrance but was sent back after a tight burst of lasfire from Ryn. Sev cleared the glass from around the edges with the butt of his lasgun and they both hopped out.

They were in an alley between two hab buildings. A chain link fence separated the alley from the main street. There was a dumpster and an old rusted bicycle. The two men took off at a run. They rounded a corner and sprinted off down the street into the swirling mist. Behind them a lone warrior stepped into the street. It saw the men disappearing into the fog. It took off at a jog. It would bide it's time, but the imperials would regret coming to this world. They would join their comrades in the after life soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

** Sorry this chapter took so long, it took me quite a few tries before I liked how it was written. The next chapter should be done within a day or two.**

Sev guessed it was almost mid day now, but it was hard to tell. The hours had blended together as they ran without rest through the swirling hypnotizing mist. He was exhausted and his breath was coming in tired rasps. His gaze was fixed ahead but he was else where. His comrades were flashing through his head, looping. The radio operator, the man killed by sniper fire, the ork slug tearing through the soldiers head, corporal Alyn lying broken and bloodied, Thompson being thrown down by ork fire, Lund standing staring resolutely across the square, Dono being sliced to pieces. He never saw the sergeant die, he never looked back. They were his comrades; his closest friends for the last two months. And they were all dead. It was at that point that Sev realised that Ryn was not beside him.

Sev turned, panic gripping him like an icy claw. Ryn was his best friend and always had been. He searched the mist desperately but there was nothing. Sev's ragged breathing seemed loud in his ears and the lenses of his mask were fogging slightly.

"Ryn" Sev screamed his voice cracking. "Emperor damn it Ryn where the hell are you!" There was no reply except for the slight murmur of the wind. Sev spun around again. He had lost his sense of direction. That was it; that was the last tie to home. His company lost, his entire squad dead and his best friend gone. He leaned up against a lamp post, Aquila's worked into the cast iron surface pressed into his back. His chest was heaving and he felt hopeless and alone. He went up to the nearest building and shoved open the door. It looked like some sort of administration office and there were papers scattered across the floor. A poster with a stern face looking down on the room stated that the Emperor was always watching. Sev collapsed on the floor. He felt tears pushing their way to the surface and desperately shoved them down. He was hyperventilating as he rolled on to his back. He lay there for a while before falling into a miserable nightmare racked sleep.

The door was banging against the frame gently in the breeze as Illineth gently pushed it open with her pistol hand. The shuriken pistol was clutched in a steady grip and the power sword was at the ready. She scanned the hallway. A polished dark imperial boot could be seen protruding from behind a desk. She kept low, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The bone white plates of her armour clung to her form perfectly and didn't make a sound. She moved with confidence but in reality she was terrified. It was her first time in combat. She was extremely young, barely out of adolescence. Her first path to walk was that of the warrior, more to spite her parents than anything else. She had always been quick footed and agile, more so than most eldar, and so had naturally been chosen to become a howling banshee. After years of training this was her first taste of combat.

As she got closer her boot caught a data slate that had been hidden under a pile of papers. The data slate skidded across the floor and hit a filing cabinet. There was a dull thud. Illineth froze mid step. She held her breath. The boot twitched but didn't move any more. _There's years of training at work _she thought. Another few paces and she was at the entrance to the office. It was cluttered, as all human buildings seemed to be. Papers covered the floor and every available flat space. Data slates sat on desks and a caffeine mug contained a solidified substance of what had once been a drink. The imperial lay before her.

He must have stood at about 6'3". He wore ochre flak armour protecting his chest, head and knees. His grey fatigues had a few blood stains, be them enemies or comrades she had no idea. He was dirty, as all humans were, with a fine layer of grime covering him. His lasgun lay next to him, bayonet still attached. He wore a white mask with green lenses. Despite his ghoulish look he looked silent and peaceful. She brought the power sword up.

It was at that point that he lunged. Illineth gave a cry of terror as he impacted with her thighs, arms wrapping around pinning them together. She crashed to the floor and he threw a wide punch at her head. She was too quick though, and before he knew what was happening she was on his back and had pushed him onto his belly. She pinned his arms with her legs as she began slamming her small but armoured fists into the back of his head. The helmet came off. His hair had a sheen to it and it clung together with sweat. _Dirty human _she thought as her fists impacted the back of his head. His forehead shot down and impacted with the wooden floor. He gave a cry of pain. There was blood running down his scalp from where her fists were hitting. She felt the muscles of his back loosening beneath her thighs and thought that the fight was over.

With a roar the human pushed up onto his knees, Illineth still on his back. Holding her legs to his sides as if she was piggy backing him he threw his weight backwards. Illineth gave a hoarse croak of pain as the air was driven from her chest. She lay stunned gasping for air. The enemy soldier span over. Illineth was much smaller than him and he was able to hold both her wrists above her head with one hand. She howled in frustration as she fought against the human's superior strength. The expressionless mask stared down at her; silent. The green lenses showed no emotion of the monster beneath. He brought a gloved fist up to punch her but hesitated. Suddenly one of her hands wriggled free from his grip. She brought her fist across his face in a sucker punch. His head shot to the side and his mask came off. He fumbled with her hand and grabbed it before she could do any amore damage. She squirmed beneath him, desperately fighting to break free. But it was hopeless. Finally she had tired her self out. She stole a glance at the humans face.

She was surprised by what she saw. It looked extremely young. They were probably about the same age, relative. His dark hair was plastered to his fore head. His eyes were red rimmed and he looked terrified. He was panting slightly but was making no move to strike her.

Sev tried to decide what to do. Everything that he had ever been taught told him to grab the lasgun that was laying a metre away and spear the xenos. But he couldn't. He knew it had been planning on doing the same thing. He had seen it raise the sword to kill him. He could feel blood running down his neck from where its punches had gored the back of his head. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to do it. _She looks so pitiful _he thought. He knew it was a she. Its breasts were rising and falling at an alarming rate as it made quick shallow pants of panic. But Sev also knew he had to. This thing had killed his friends. True, most of the squad had died to orks, but who knew. Maybe this was the one that had killed sarge or Dono. He fumbled for the strap of the lasgun and dragged it across the floor, keeping his other hand on the female's wrists. Her head shot to the side and stared at the lasgun being dragged towards them. She let out a whimper as it grated against the wooden floor boards. Sev lifted the lasgun and prepared to spear the xenos through the chest. It struggled beneath him and as he brought the bayonet down it let out a shriek of terror.

Sev stopped. The bayonet hovered just above the enemies chest. She lay almost still, quivering in fear. Sev dropped the lasgun to the side. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill an enemy face to face that was so helpless. He stood up and took a few steps back, staring at the cowering enemy. She tried to push herself up on her hands but his boot caught her across the chin, sending her skidding back a few feet. Sev was furious. He should have killed it. He should have stabbed it. But he hadn't. The alien stared up at him from the floor nursing its jaw. Sev grabbed his gun, mask and helmet. He looked down at the female warrior who just moments ago he had been about to kill. He felt a stab of guilt. She looked cowed and fearful, nothing like the confident warrior that had strode into the room to kill him. Her knees were to her chest and she stared at him from behind helmeted eyes. He turned and left out the door.

Sev took off at a jog. He had been so busy with the morning's dealings that he had completely forgotten about his predicament. His only real option of going forward at the moment was to try and regroup with the company. It was next to hopeless but he had no other choices available. He tried to push the xenos girl out of his mind but couldn't. He still didn't fully understand why he hadn't killer her. The fog had showed no signs of lessening since the day before. Sev ran for a while, keeping at an even pace so he could maintain speed. In the first little while he checked behind him often to make sure that the enemy he had left behind was not sneaking up behind him, preparing to stab him in the back. But there was no sign of her.

Sev had been running for about an hour now. He was felt absolutely miserable about the loss of his squad but the hope of regrouping with the rest of the men kept him running. It was around this time, when Sev was checking over his shoulder, that he heard a shout from the side. He looked over at three orks emerging from an alley. They looked as startled as Sev did, and they must have not been expecting company. Sev faltered for a second before putting on a burst of speed. The heavy thumping of heavy ork feet, muffled by his mask and the fog, was drawing closer.

Sev span one hundred and eighty degrees, opening up on the pursuing orks. The shots went wide. Sev didn't have time to correct his aim before the first ork barrelled into him, sending him flying. His head hit the pavement and his vision went dark momentarily. He opened his eyes to see the ork lunging, bringing a huge rusty cleaver down towards him. Sev rolled and pushed himself to his feet. The ork stood up but was shouted down by another. Two orks stood back while the largest of the trio stepped forward. He had a wicked scar running down his cheek and wore armour made from tough looking leather and chunks of scrap metal. He held an axe in his meaty hands and at the flick of a button teeth roared to life.

_ Great _thought Sev. _What could possibly be better than an ork with a great big axe? How about an ork with a great big chain axe. _The two combatants circled until Sev realised that he didn't need to play by the rules. He levelled the lasgun which he had been planning on using as a spear and opened fire on the big ork on full auto. The majority of the shots missed but a few hit their mark, leaving glowing orange marks that smoked around the edges. Alas, this had little effect other than infuriating the ork. It tipped back its head, roared, and charged.


	5. Chapter 5

** Since there is very little explanation of eldar and ork and gothic in terms of general speech, Eldar will speak Welsh, imperials will speak Russian and Orks will speak orky English. I speak none of these languages and so will be using Google translate. If you actually speak any of these languages then you can cry as Google tears your language to bits and shits on the pieces. There is no need to have Google translate up in a separate tab; the whole point of this is that you will not understand what the character in question is saying. Also, I am super sorry this took as long as it did. I have been super busy with school work. Alas, I am going away this weekend so won't be doing any typing but will try to get the rest of this chapter up asap. I am posting it semi complete just so you guys have something to read. If you do not like the direction this is going feel free to say in the reviews or pm me.**

The ork swung the axe. Sev ducked, and the whirling teeth of the weapon roared over his head. He smelt engine oil and blood. Sev lunged forward but was sent flying by a heavy booted kick from the massive ork. It stomped towards him letting out a throaty laugh. It brought the axe down in an overhead swing and Sev just managed to slide out of the way. He heard chunks of rockcrete impacting with his helmet and mask as the teeth tore up the road. The ork bellowed in frustration and swung again. Again Sev juked out of the way but the teeth caught his thigh. He almost screamed in pain as the huge weapon sliced into the meat of his leg. Sev lurched a few more feet, his momentum moving him to the side. He lunged at the ork, going on the offensive. His bayonet shot towards the beast unprotected flank but the monster swatted the weapon aside with his monstrous hand. Sev stumbled back a few steps. His leg was throbbing with pain and he didn't dare look down at it. Not only was the creature considerably larger, tougher and better armed then he was, but he was also much better at fighting.

Sev shouldered the lasgun and emptied the rest of his clip into the ork. His vision was blurred with pain and fatigue but a few shots managed to hit the target, more by probability than anything else. One shot hit the ork in the face, just below one of its two massive fangs that protruded from the bottom of its mouth. It left a smouldering blackened indent on its dark skinned face and the ork tipped back its head howled with laughter.

"Is dat da best 'eu got Humie?" it roared. It stomped towards Sev, slowly, knowing the fight was over. Sev dropped the power pack, and fumbled as he tried to slot another one into the gun. The big orks two cronies jeered and laughed off too the side.

Suddenly there was a flash of red and white. The big ork had a surprised look on its face and as Sev watched its head slipped from its shoulders. It dropped to its knees and slumped forward onto its chest with a crash of metal. The chain axe clattered to the ground, silent. The two orks laughter died off as the realisation that their leader was dead slowly sunk in.

"Oi, humie, what you thinkin you playin at?" One of them growled. Sev turned, feeling as confused as they did. Suddenly there was a hissing sound, the same hissing sound that had killed Dono. Sev dropped to the ground but there was no need. The two orks slumped over, pools of blood spreading around them. Sev crawled to his feet, lasgun levelled. Pain shot up his leg but he managed to stay upright. A warrior stepped forward. She wore bone coloured armour and the mane of red hair drifted in the wind. Mist swirled around her. Sev's finger tightened on the trigger. She stood silently staring at him. She was there, he could kill her. Sev clutched the grip of the lasgun; his knuckles were white beneath his leather gloves. The barrel shook slightly for a few seconds. And then it lowered. Sev stepped forward shakily.

He wasn't sure what to do. It was for sure now. He couldn't kill it. If he hadn't been able to do it when he had all the reason to kill her, then he sure as hell couldn't do it now that she had saved his life. Sev limped nervously forward a few steps. She stood, unmoving. Sev decided to take the initiative.

"Uh hi?" He said. His voice cracked and his face went bright red behind his mask. She visibly flinched. After a seconds pause she took a few steps towards Sev. She was standing right in front of him looking up. She was smaller than him, at a guess 5'11".

"You speak low gothic" He said. She cocked her head to the side and looked at him inquisitively. Sev thought for a second how attractive she was. She was lithe but perfectly formed. He pushed the thought from his mind though, it was bad enough he was trying to communicate with her.

"Any thing?" Sev asked with a tone finality. She continued to stare at him. Sev gave up and turned to walk away. It was then that his leg gave out. The adrenaline had just worn off and the pain hit him like a brick wall.

"Rydych yn glwyfo?" Sev looked up in surprise. She hadn't moved, and stood where he had left her a few metres away. She repeated herself. Sev tried to push himself up to a sitting position and cried out in pain. He looked down at the wound. His right thigh was completely soaked in blood. The long cut must have been at least a hundred and fifty centimetres, perhaps more. Sev tried again to rise with no success. Seconds later he passed out.

Sev woke up. The red light of dusk was poking in through a window, covered by metal industrial shutters. The beams of light picked up the dust in the air making visible lines. Sev was lying on a couch that smelled musty. There was a table with a chairs and a counter sporting a caffeine maker, cupboards and a sink. Then Sev noticed the girl. She was sitting against a wall cross legged. Her head was leaned back and Sev assumed she was asleep. Her helmet sat next to her on the floor. Sev had expected the creature beneath to be terrible to behold and look weird and alien. He was wrong. Her face was angular but essentially human looking. She had long brown hair that went below her shoulders. It swept from across her face, almost covering one eye. Her ears were the strangest part, the sharp tips poking out of her hair. As he took her in he succumbed, allowing himself to accept that she was gorgeous.

He looked down at his leg to take his mind off the creature sitting across from him asleep. A bandage was visible beneath the long hole that ran down his pants. The pants had been cleaned and the bandage was fresh but blood was seeping through. He swung his legs off the couch and tried to stand up but let out a yelp and fell back. The xenos sat up with a start, looking around quickly. She noticed Sev wincing on the couch and stood up to maker her way over to him. She knelt in front of him, and poked at the bandage. Sev flinched back from her. She looked up at him in surprise.

"A ydych yn teimlo'n well?" She gave him an expectant look.

"I... I don't know what you're trying to say he" stammered. He was taken aback by her voice. It was melodic and had a nice lilt to it. She made another move to check his bandage and again he slid away.

"Angen i mi ei wirio, bydd yn cael eu heintio" She said. She sounded annoyed now, as if she was scolding him. This upset Sev. He wasn't a child and he wasn't going to be talked down to by an alien. She made another move at his leg. Sev placed both hands on her chest and gave her a shove.

"Piss off" he hissed. She stumbled backwards a few feet and landed on her ass. She yelped as she landed. She looked up at him from under her hair. Sev lay back on the couch, keeping his gaze on the girl out of the corner of his eye. She looked sad, and made a move towards Sev, but ended up sitting cross-legged against the wall, next to her helmet where she had woken up.

Sev felt bad, but he thought it necessary. He couldn't let the xenos touch him. He didn't like to think about it but he couldn't allow himself to befriend the alien. After a few minutes of silence Sev leaned forward to redress the bandage himself. He un-tucked his fatigues from his boots and pulled up the pant leg. The bandages were crusted with blood and he gingerly began peeling them back. His hands were shaking though and he let out a yelp as he tugged the bandage at a bad angle. Sev decided it was hopeless in the state he was in and laid back, falling into an uneasy sleep.

Sev woke in a cold sweat. His head pounded and his vision was swimming. He leaned over and retched. Some bile burnt his throw but no vomit came up. He tried to remember the last time he ate and realised it was when over half his squad was still alive. He retched again as he remembered his situation. After he was finished dry heaving he checked down at his leg. The bandage was even more blood soaked then the last time he had checked it. He peeled some of the bandage back and reeled at the swollen infected flesh beneath. He realised that he had a bad fever.

He checked around the room. It was empty and dark. Sev had wanted the xenos gone but now she was he felt completely alone. _I'm going to die _he thought. _I'm going to die completely alone and forgotten_. He lay back on the couch, his head pounding more than ever. His leg felt like it was throbbing and the pain was unbearable. He soon drifted back into a nightmare racked sleep, fully expecting to never wake up.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this chapter took so long. I've been quite busy this week studying for a math test and I had a sudden urge to paint my StuGs and Pak40s (flames of war). Any ways here's the next chapter. From now on I will be aiming for a chapter per week, and if I can more.**

**I noticed someone mentioned "suffer not the xenos" in the reviews. I've had the idea for this story for a while now but just recently I read that one. I will try my hardest not to let that story influence my own writing. Although I thought that it was very well done there were a few things that I really did not like about that book that made me stop reading about two thirds of the way through. Any ways, there may be some similarities, and these chapters that I am on right now will be most similar, but I will try and avoid it as much as possible.**

**The other thing I wanted to bring up was character art. I got an email from fanfic that someone wrote a review, offering to do character art, but I could never find the review after that. If any one is interested in doing character art then I will happily accept it. I need a cover image for this story, and I find artwork is great to go along with stories, especially in the case of amateur writing as I feel like I can't portray the scene properly all the time. If you are at all interested please PM me. I would appreciate it to no end.**

Sev woke up with a start. His first thought was absolute surprise. How was he still alive? His second thought was even greater surprise. He felt almost fine. When he had fallen asleep he had been convinced of his inevitable death. And yet here he was and, despite a headache and a bit of grogginess, he felt almost fine. He checked his leg. The wound had been re-bandaged and the visible skin was less red and the swelling had dropped to an almost normal level. He swung his legs off the grungy couch and stood, putting all his weight on the good leg and keeping a hand on the arm of the couch. He was able to get upright and then tentatively put his weight on the bad leg. He let out a yelp of pain, but it was more from the expectation than actual hurt. He managed to take a few steps in a small circle and sit back down.

It was then that he noticed the xenos girl. She sat cross legged in the middle of the room. Sunlight drifted through the metal shutters and lit up half of her helmeted face. Her sword and pistol were both holstered and her hands were crossed across her lap. Sev leaned back on the couch. He checked the room for his weapons and gear. His bag and webbing was organised neatly and the lasgun leaned against the wall next to it. It was then that he realised just how hungry he was. He kept his eye on the girl as he limped over to his bag. After a second of fumbling with the clips he found a MRE. He picked up his canteen and made his way back to the couch, catching his heel and tripping slightly. The xenos head tracked him the entire way.

Sev ate his meal and felt much better for it, washing it down with some metallic tasting water. Now he had to decide what he was going to do. He had no idea where he was in the city, he had no idea if there was even an imperial presence on the planet and he potentially had a xenos following him around who he was obliged not to kill. He grabbed his gear and made his way over to the window. After some shoving and a pinched finger, he managed to slide the industrial looking shutters up enough to see outside. The street was clear, with no sign of the Emperor forsaken fog. The cold early morning sunlight shone down the roadway, almost blinding Sev. Leaves drifted lazily down the street from an unseen tree in a light breeze.

It was then that there was a great explosion, somewhere off in the distance. It must have been far off, but Sev felt the vibration through the ground. He checked his chronometer. It had been just over two days since they had hit ground. The land assault would just be beginning. That boom would be the first of the basilisks ranging in. Just as he thought this there was a great roaring as multiple batteries of basilisks opened fire. The ground shook more violently and a pic fell off the wall, shattering on the ground.

Sev went about his final preparations, packing up anything that wasn't already in his bag. There was a small Imperial shrine in one corner that he hadn't noticed earlier. There were a few candle stumps around a poorly etched wooden figurine of a saint. Sev kneeled in front of it, pulling out his pristine imperial issue lighter. Flicking it open he lit the candles one by one. He bowed his head and muttered a prayer of safe passage under his breath, one that his father had taught him to use before going on fishing voyages.

He turned from the shrine and stood, leaving the candles burning. His leg threatened to give as he shouldered his bag but he managed to catch himself. The girl had been staring at him as he prayed and stood now, stepping to the side as he moved to pass her. She followed him as he left through the door and went down the dirty staircase to the ground floor and out into the street. When he got to the street he turned and faced her.

"I need to get back to my comrades, and there's no place for a xenos there. They won't be as forgiving as I was. I appreciate you saving my life but you can't stay with me" Sev said. It felt like a weight off his chest when he said it but at the same time he had the strange feeling of guilt for having to leave her.

She stood in the doorway of hab block, maintaining her seemingly continues gaze on him. _She doesn't understand _Sev realised. She just going to keep following me, Emperor knows why.

"Piss off!" he shouted, waving his hand at her dismissively. She took a few steps towards him and Sev lowered the las rifle and fired three shots off above her head. They impacted above the door and she flinched back. Sev turned and started off down the road, towards the smoke stacks which were again visible and not too far away, and much to his satisfaction she stayed in the doorway.

Sev started off. He went as fast as his leg would let him, but he was amazed at how well he could walk, considering. The air was cold and he felt it piercing in through the sides of his mask. He was glad of his leather gloves, as he could already feel the tips of his fingers getting cold. The air that came out through the metal filter of the rebreather was misted. He kept his lasgun in a loose grip but at the ready.

Sev's breath was coming out in horse gasps now, and his throat stung from the frigid air. He was trying to stick close to the walls and stay low but his vision was blurring and he kept on having to catch himself as bad leg would almost give out. After about an hour of this he decided to stop and rest. Up ahead there was a bridge. Bronze statues of space marines, weathered and green with oxidization, stood solemn and unmoving on each corner of the bridge. Sev made his way slowly over to one. He sat down and leaned up against the plinth.

He let his head fall back and rest against the armoured bronze boot of the super human hero. He took out his canteen and after pulling down his rebreather took a long drink. He hadn't filled the canteen since arrival on the planet and to his dismay it was almost empty. He would need to find water soon. Some leaves drifted past across the bridge as Sev sat and contemplated. He felt supremely depressed. He had no idea where his comrades were, if they were still alive, and the only sign of friendlies was the distant thunder of huge guns.

The city seemed to press in on him. The unending rockcrete walls with their imperial posters and occasional graffiti. And other than the distant guns there was absolute silence. The grey over cast sky seemed to increase the claustrophobia, as if it was sinking towards him. It looked like it was going to rain, he thought absent mindedly. He took another second to rest, muttered a short prayer to the Emperor, and got up to leave. The bridge crossed over what looked like a canal and he looked down towards the grey water that lapped against the supports of the bridge.

Sev started of with his hobble, trying to keep his weight on his good leg. It was just as he got about a quarter of the way across the bridge when he heard a shout from behind him.

"Maen nhw tu ôl i mi, yn rhedeg!" someone shouted. Sev recognized the voice immediately. He turned and saw the girl sprinting towards him. He was taken aback by how fast she moved. The bone white armour blurred almost as she sprinted down the road. He was about to yell at her to piss off when he saw why she had yelled. There was a throaty roar of crude engines as what looked like three ork motor bikes rounded the bend in the road. They idled for a second; revving their engines before shooting down the road with a blast of black smoke and loud bangs from the engines. _What the hell was she thinking; was she trying to lead them onto me?_ He thought. He had no time to ponder further though as the huge bulky contraptions raced towards the bridge.

Sev's training kicked in and he dropped to one knee, shouldering the las gun. Every time he had shot the blasted lasgun his shots had gone hopelessly wild. He muttered a quick prayer and tried to calm himself down, which was difficult considering the circumstances. It was then that Sev really accepted his fate. He was going to die. One way or another, be it from orks, eldar, starvation or friendly guns there was next to no chance he would find his company. With that thought in mind he lined up the sights. His hands, which had had a perpetual shake since the sniper, stopped shaking. The lasgun didn't waver or buck as Sev depressed the trigger.

Red las bolts lanced down the road, almost every single one falling on the leading bike. He took in the driver of the bike. It wore a helmet with what looked like grox horns sprouting out the top. It had a pair of huge leather goggles on that obscured its eyes and wore a giant grin as it shook a big gun in the air. The last bolts scorched the air around it, some narrowly missing, some hitting the armoured front of the bike and deflecting off into the sides of the nearby buildings. The beast roared a throaty laugh that sounded almost the same as the engine it road, pumped with exhilaration of the situation.

Its expression changed though as a lasbolt sliced through its forehead. The grin faded from its face as the realisation that it was dead sunk it. In a death spasm it clenched its grip. The front breaks of the gigantic bike suddenly tightened as the bike shot down the road. Time seemed to slow for Sev as the bikes back end lifted up. The machine was air born for what seemed like as an eternity, and the rider slipped off, flailing through the air as his life slipped from him. The bike slammed down with a flash of sparks. There was a hissing sound as some important valve broke. The two other bikes desperately swerved to avoid the crash, laughing at their leader's ill fortune.

Then there was a bang. The crashed bike went off. There was a significant explosion that seemed impossibly big. The new lead bike pressed onwards unscathed but his friend was not so lucky. As the crashed bike touched off he happened to be passing the crash and the explosion sent him and his bike smashing into the front of one of the rockcrete buildings.

The one surviving ork shoulder checked and turned back. He appeared indifferent to the loss of his two comrades as he gave the throttle a little more and grinned. He levelled his massive huge pistol and began letting shots fly in Sevs direction. Sev ducked behind one of the pillars of the bridge as chunks of the road flew up where he had just been kneeling. The bike was now less than thirty metres away and Sev tried to snatch off some shots from behind the pillar with little success. It was then that he noticed the xenos girl.

Sev jaw dropped as he noticed her for the first time in the fight. She had been taking cover behind a pillar similar to his own up until now while Sev had picked off the ork biker. But she was now sprinting down the road, straight towards the biker. The red mane of her helmet streamed behind her and she held the power sword in one hand as she ran at full speed. The ork looked as surprised as Sev was that one of the pitiful enemies was actually going towards him. There was the familiar screech that the xenos made and Sevs lasgun clattered to the ground as he threw his hands up over his ears. He slumped forwards in pain but managed to keep his eyes on the spectacle unfolding.

The ork maintained speed and tried to direct the bike towards the alien sprinting towards him. Just as it seemed the bike was about to hit her she leaped. Her momentum carried her towards the bike hurtling out of control towards her. The orks head tracked her with horror, realising what she was about to do but unable to do anything to stop it. She held her power sword in a two handed grip as the pair came together. The ork managed to bring a gauntleted fist up that was almost the size of her torso. But there was no avoiding the inevitable and the ork roared in anger and frustration as the power sword sliced through his head. But his fist was moving before the xenos impacted and as the sword went through his head his fist impacted with the girl. Sev watched in horror as she went flying, limp and with hands hanging at her sides, out of sight. The ork slumped forwards on the bike and it crashed into the support of the bridge with mighty crash of twisting metal and a grinding of machine on rockcrete.

Sev stood up. His head pounded from the sonic scream and his leg hurt. He limped past the wreckage of the bike and its dying rider. The girl was lying on the ground in a crumpled heap. Her chest moved up and down in shallow gulps. Sev stood above her and she looked up. He outstretched his hand. After a moment hesitation she took it and he pulled her to her feet. She grabbed the power sword which lay a few feet away and they started off across the bridge, Sev leading.

"Diolch i chi, mon-keigh" She said.

He had made the decision there. He probably wasn't going to survive and he had no one left. If she wanted to stick around then that was fine, because apparently she could stand up for herself. He would still try and find his company but there was no sense in turning down help if it was offered. He would have to leave her once he got to back to his comrades but for now she could tag along.

There was a chill breeze that ran through the streets as they crossed the bridge. long ripple ran across the grey surface of the canal. Sev wished that he had more to wear than his fatigues and flak armour. He rubbed his gloved hands across his shoulders. It was then that he felt something touch lightly against the open skin between his gloves and his jacket. He looked down but there was nothing there. Then he felt it again, this time on his neck.

Sev looked up, and to his wonder there were white flakes drifting through the air. They moved lazily downwards, spiralling and getting caught up and tossed whenever there was a light breeze. Sev span once staring up at the sky. He had never seen any thing like it. He let out a deep laugh. He didn't mean to but he couldn't help it. Here he was, completely alone in a barren war torn city with a xenos in tow and there was white shit coming out of the sky.

"The Emperor works in strange ways" he muttered under his breath. The girl seemed un-fazed by this new occurrence of solid precipitation. _Maybe they had it where she was from_ he thought to himself. They continued on down the road, side by side, towards the smoke stacks.

Within minutes there was silence again on the bridge. The ork biker lay in the street. His face was a ruined mess and he could feel the life slipping from him. For once in his life he felt no arrogance, no need for amusement in the form of destruction or violence. He felt perfectly at peace with his world. What little breath escaped his lips rose in the air and formed steam, dispersing. The snow was coming down heavier now. He blinked as a particularly large piece landed on his eyelid. Across the street he could see the wreck of the nobs bike, a few small fires poking out of pipes. It was fuzzy and everything was too bright. He smiled. The last thought in his mind was that of the small enemy flying through the air. A glorious death.

His eyes closed and let out a final breath. The snow drifted around him and soon the smoke stacks that had minutes before been clear to the eye were obscured. There was only the barely audible thump of artillery off in the distance, muffle by the snow.


	7. Chapter 7

** Sorry this one took so long. From now on I will be sticking to a regular schedule of writing so expect one chapter a week. Someone said longer chapters so from now on chapters will be around this length. I am still looking for someone to do artwork so if you are interested please pm me. You have no idea how appreciative I will be. Thanks for the reviews, they are good for motivation and knowing what to change. I won't give any spoilers but I will be going back to classic imperial guard action as soon as possible. **

Sev wiped the back of his hand across the goggles of his mask, clearing flakes of snow that had accumulated. It was really starting to pick up now. The snow swirled downwards slowly and yet with a certain weight. Sev was freezing and on every horizontal surface of his flak armour or fatigues snow was building up. He pushed a particularly large amount off of the crick of his elbow. He fiddled with the sights of his lasgun, making sure that nothing got in.

The girl walked next to him and he would often steal looks out of the corner of his eye. She walked with long strides, her back straight and head held high. The snow swirled around her, creating patterns on her armour. The red mane of hair on the helmet stood out in sharp contrast. The sword was at her side but she had her hand resting on the pistol. Her mask was carved in the visage of a snarl, and Sev found it almost frightening. He convinced himself that he was staring at her purely out of curiosity but he couldn't help it when his eyes would drift down slightly.

When they had left the bridge Sev had started off leading. He wanted to show that he was in charge, and that he wouldn't let this alien show him where to go. But his leg was killing him and his knees were getting stiff and cramped in the cold that he wasn't used too. Soon she was alongside him. Sev subconsciously straightened, making himself taller than her. He didn't even think about it, but at the back of his mind he was trying to stay the alpha. And even though she walked next to him Sev felt that it was she that was leading. He was grumpy from lack of sleep and stress and at the moment he resented bringing her along.

Soon the office buildings and hab blocks gave way to warehouses and industrial buildings. Everything was as grey as ever and the snow only furthered the dull monotone of the city. A chill breeze made Sev shiver. It must have been late afternoon and the sky was darkening. It was cold enough as it was and he definitely did not want to be outside after dark. They continued for another twenty minutes when Sev decided that the next likely place to stop he would take. The snow had gone from the swirling torrents to a driving force that squeezed between the cracks in his mask and fatigues and made the areas it touched ache with cold.

Sev made his way to the closest warehouse. It had rockcrete walls that were painted grey. Huge bay doors had Aquila's inlaid into them. Chain link fences closed the small distance between one warehouse and the next. A short set of stairs led up to a doorstep. Sev made his way up and fumbled at the doorknob with his frozen hands. It gave way and to his surprise and utmost relief the door swung open. He stepped inside.

He was surrounded by inky darkness. The half light of twilight, further muted by the snow, seemed to creep a few metres in from the door before being engulfed in the gloom. Despite his new found grim resolve Sev was scared. He had always held a certain fear of the dark. In sermons at the tiny ecclesiarch chapel that his family would occasionally visit back home the priest would often preach of the enemies of the imperium being represented by darkness. With a shaking hand Sev reached up and flicked on his helmet light. The beam swept back and forth across the open space. There were a few crates, some covered by canvas tarps. A rat scurried away from the light as it passed over its hiding place. Some cobwebs glistened up in the steel girders that formed the rafters of the building. It smelled musty but with the metallic tang of machinery and oil.

The light fell on a small office set back in one corner. Sev began heading over, lasgun at the ready. The heels of his boots clicked on the floor, echoing out across the near empty warehouse. He stepped in a puddle that had formed in a slight depression in the rockcrete and the splash seemed unnaturally loud. The girl followed behind him and Sev was impressed with how silent she was able to keep herself.

Sev pushed open the door of the office. The light from his helmet lit up the room and he checked it over, keeping his lasgun at the ready. There was a wooden table with a couple chairs at it. A clip board sat on the table there was a cork board with various graphs and receipts pinned up. There were some filing cabinets and lamp hung over head. A window looked out across the warehouse. After fumbling around Sev found the switch and the room was lit up with a warm electric glow.

Despite the shelter from the outside Sev was still freezing. He had never experienced cold of this kind. Although the region he had grown up in on Roland Prime was prone to terrible storms the temperature was always relatively mild year round.

Sev pulled out his small portable stove that was in his bag. He also got out his blanket, an MRE and some water. He hadn't had a heated meal for a few days now and was desperate for something to warm him up. He pulled off his rebreather, which was stiff from the cold and felt like it was frozen to his face. After wrapping the blanket around his shoulders he lit the tiny stove with his lighter and put the MRE on top to heat. He rubbed his hands together near the small flame. They stung as the blood began to flow again.

He looked over. He knew he was being unreasonable pushing the girl away. He had accepted her tagging along and the least he could do was to be reasonably amiable. But he still couldn't quite accept that she was not the enemy. She had slipped into the enclosed office after him and now sat, in her usual cross legged position near the door. She fiddled with one of her armour plates as she stared down at the floor. Sev realised that she carried no visible kit or webbing. In fact Sev had never seen her eat, sleep or drink. He had a pang of guilt as he looked down at the meal heating up in front of him.

"You want some?" He asked. His voice echoed around the room and sounded tinny. He hadn't heard a human voice in a while and it sounded strange and foreign. She gave him a blank look and he remembered that she didn't know what he was saying. He gestured at his food and then at her. She stared at him for another second then nodded with understanding. She shuffled closer on her knees and sat back down across the stove from Sev. After taking off her helmet she looked at him expectantly. Sev gave the processed food a stir.

He didn't know what it was supposed to be. It looked like it could be described as beans but that would be flattery. He had been planning on eating it straight out of the can but after fishing through his back pack he found his mess tin. He slopped half of the brownish grey steaming rations into his tin and the rest he left for himself. He handed her the plate and spoon. He had put enough water in to make the substance drinkable. He pushed the fact that he had a few sips of water left to the back of his mind.

The xenos girl began spooning the food delicately into her mouth. Sev looked in curiosity and amusement as she retched after the first mouthful. But she persisted and continued eating. Sev had to keep himself from laughing from the look of determination on her face as she resolutely shovelled spoon full after spoon full of imperial grade waste into her mouth. Finally she finished, putting the plate down. She looked up at him and smiled. Sev really had to work to keep a straight face. He pulled his blanket across his chest, shuffled his bag around and laid his head down, using the bag as a pillow.

He looked over. The girl sat where she had finished her meal and was giving him an odd look. He couldn't decipher it and thought nothing of it. After a minute she lay back, flat on the ground. Sev realised that, along with having no extra equipment she also had no sleeping gear. He didn't know how warm her armour kept her but it didn't look thick and he expected his fatigues were much warmer. She was shivering badly. Sev scrunched the blanket into a ball and tossed it to her. She sat up, pushing her hair out of her eyes. She started to say something but ended up just throwing him an appreciative nod. Sev lay back and she followed suit.

Sev woke up in the middle of the night. His teeth were chattering and he felt immeasurably cold. He couldn't feel his extremities. He had felt hypothermia before. There was the time when a particularly large wave had thrown him from the fishing boat on a stormy night. He had sat in the water for twenty minutes, hyperventilating and wondering whether he would drown or freeze first before rescue came. But this was different. That cold had been a sharp pain. This was more of a dull chill that froze him to the bone. He rubbed his fatigues against his arms and cried out in pain. It felt as if his blood had crystallized and he was rubbing it together. He lay back, shivering uncontrollably.

He looked over at the girl. She had pushed up on one elbow and her oval eyes picked what little light there was in the dark room. Sev thought absentmindedly in his frozen stupor of how it was nice she had thought to turn the light off. He noticed that she was shivering, although it was barely perceivable in the almost pitch-blackness of the warehouse office. After a moment she stood up and walked over to him. She stood there for a moment and Sev wondered if she was planning on killing him. Maybe it was for the best. He couldn't stand being this cold any longer. Under his breath he muttered a prayer to the Emperor to watch over his soul. But she did not draw her pistol or sword. Instead she lay down next to him wrapping the blanket over them both.

Sev was repulsed. He desperately tried to break away, feebly clawing at her. But his arms felt like they were made of lead. All he wanted to do was sleep. The girl slid one arm under him and with the other she pulled him towards her. He resisted with what little strength remained. She hissed something at him though and eventually he gave up. She felt warm, and after a few moments his muscles un-tensed. Even in his hypothermic state he could see the logic in what she was doing. If he didn't warm up he would be dead by morning.

There wasn't much else he could do to heat up. He couldn't eat hot food. In his muddled state of mind something came back to him from training. The first aid course which he had actually bothered listening to on the transport ship had explained hypothermia. The signs of it and what to do as well as what not to do. If he heated himself up too fast he would go into shock and potentially die. One of the best ways was to slowly regain temperature with body heat. In reality the xenos next him was not giving off much, she was probably near hypothermic as well, but it would help the situation and if he was lucky he would survive the night. Sev was almost amused at the thought that he was coming as close to death from non combat means than through the fighting he had seen. Fever, freezing to death and water was soon going to be an issue.

Sev made no more effort to resist but that wasn't to say that he accepted his situation. He fell asleep soon after trying to decide whether it was better to freeze to death or be in the arms of a xenos. As his eyes closed his shivering slowed slightly. The last thought on his mind was that his continued service to the Emperor would make up for the discretion.

Sev woke up in the morning. He still felt extremely cold, but at least his fingers didn't feel brittle and he could move his limbs without too much difficulty. It was then that he realised where said limbs were. The xenos girl lay with her back to him. Her head was pressed into his chest. His arms were around her and she held his hands into her stomach. Her chest rose and fell slightly in the deep breaths of sleep. Sev couldn't get over how normal she looked. Despite the ears poking out of her long brown hair she would have passed as a startlingly attractive human. _She's perfect _Sev thought. She was lithe but not skinny and curved but not to unnatural levels.

But she was not human, and she was the enemy. He would fight by her side, and accept her help if she would not hinder him getting back to his comrades but he was not willing to become friends. She may have saved his life last night but he was alive now and needed contact with her no longer. He sat up, trying not to disturb the sleeping figure in front of him, extracting his arm from under her slowly. His efforts were for nought though; as the girl turned over quickly, seemingly instantly awake. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and stared up at him as he slowly got to his feet. His breath fogged the air and lying next to her he had almost forgotten how cold it was. His muscles were stiff and his leg throbbed slightly as blood began pumping through chilled veins.

Sev took two nutrient bars out of his webbing that lay where he had dropped it the night before. He waved it in front of the xenos who had curled herself into a ball in the blanket. She shook her head and pulled the blanket over her head. Sev found this hilarious and couldn't help but laugh. Apparently she would need to be starving to eat army rations again. He dropped it next to her and sat in the office chair to eat his own. He wanted to get moving as soon as possible to get his blood pumping and, Emperor willing, find his company.

After finishing off the bitter tasting nutrient bar Sev pulled on his webbing, back pack and the rest of his gear. The girl tossed the blanket up at him and he folded it into a roll and put it in the bag. After putting her helmet on she picked up her sword and pistol and nodded at him that she was ready to go. Sev pushed out the door and began towards the far end of the warehouse. Looking up he noticed that icicles had formed from the metal girders that made the rafters.

Sev thought about the fact that he had nothing to call the girl other than "girl" or "xenos". He didn't like the implications of companionship that came with knowing her name but he decided that it was best to try and figure it out, for the purpose of efficiency.

"What's your name then?" he called back over his shoulder. Looking back he saw that the girl faltered a little at the sound of his voice. She obviously didn't understand, as before, and Sev tried repeating himself, saying it slower and louder. He wasn't surprised when it didn't work. He tried a different tactic.

"My name's Sev. That mean anything to you? Call me Sev?" he said. She had matched his pace and walked next to him, looking at him. It still unnerved him to have what he had always been taught to hate walking with him, looking at him like he was some sort of creature.

"Sev..." She said slowly in a questioning tone. Her melodic accent made it sound strange and it came out slightly tinny through her helmet.

"Sev" He repeated. They came to the door. Sev turned the handle. He could feel the cold of the metal through his gloves. He gave the door a push. There was a soft crunching and the sound of cracking ice but the door failed to move more than a few centimetres. Sev shoved again. Birght light streamed through the half meter gap. One more shove and the door stood almost wide open. Sev stepped from the gloom of the warehouse into brilliant sunlight.

The world around him was different from the one he had left last night. The grey streets had been covered with a thick blanket of snow that made the dirty dull streets look clean and pristine. Everything sparkled. Sev let out a low whistle. He had never seen anything like it. He took a few steps and smiled beneath his mask at the crunching sound it made. There was a lighter crunching as the girl's small light steps followed close behind.

"Illineth" he heard from behind him. Sev spun around. The xenos had stopped walking.

"Fy enw i yw Illineth" she spoke again. Sev liked the sound of her voice, the way the words blended together like the words of a poem or song.

"Illineth. That's an alright name" Sev turned and kept going. Again she matched his pace and walked along side him. They walked down the middle of the road, uncaring of enemies. Perhaps the snow absorbed the sound or perhaps the gunners were resting, but there was no audible artillery. Two lines of footsteps followed behind them.

It was mid morning when thirst kicked in. Sev shook his canteen into his mouth and much to his dismay there was only a few drops of water left. Illineth watched him as he did it and after he had finished peering into the bottle to try and see if any water had eluded him she spoke up.

"Gallwch toddi yr eira eich bod yn gwybod" She said. Sev turned to her and shrugged his shoulders. She knew that he couldn't understand him. Illineth gestured towards the edge of the road impatiently. Sev followed. After they had crouched down in the shadow of construction site she slid around him and began undoing the clasps on his bag. Sev began to turn to stop her. That was his imperial issue gear as well as a few personal items and she had no right meddling with it. But before he could even turn and get the bag out of her reach she stopped him.

"Dorri allan" She said, in a scolding tone. Sev was so shocked by her authoritative manner that he halted mid turn. He sat stunned as she pulled something out of his bag. He turned to see it was his camp stove. He still had the canteen in his hand and she snatched it from him.

"What in the warp do you think you're doing" He said, completely taken aback. She ignored him and began stuffing snow into the metal canteen. After she had finished she looked up at him expectantly and pointed to the stove.

"Pe gallech chynnau os gwelwch yn dda?" She said. Sev got what she was saying but still did not understand what she was doing. He hesitated. Then he remembered something. Back home the family had owned a freezer. It was covered in ice and what looked like the snow. It had never even occurred to him that the snow was simply frozen rain. He snorted once then burst out laughing. Soon he was doubled over, howling with laughter. He had been seriously concerned about dying of thirst when he was completely surrounded by water. Illineth cocked her head and stared at him. She had no idea what had gotten into him. After he had calmed himself down enough he fished into his pocket and handed her the lighter.

She fumbled with it, figured out how the device worked then with a couple flicks got it going. She could not figure out the stove though so Sev demonstrated how to turn on the gas still letting out the occasional snort. He was in a joking mood now and as Illineth brought the lighter down to ignite the stove he smacked her hand, sending it shooting down. There was a poof, and the stove lit. She screeched with surprise and terror as the flame shot upwards and she yanked back her hand. She started yelling at Sev and he fell on his side howling with laughter. She slammed the canteen down on the tiny stove, crossed her arms and her shoulders shot up.

Sev calmed himself down enough to sit up and make sure that the paint on the canteen was not melting off. It wasn't and he turned it over just in case.

"Oh common, you have to admit it was funny" He said to the sulking alien. She looked away and turned up her nose. Sev leaned back on his hands.

"Ok fine, I'm sorry. Alright?" Sev said. Her nose went up even higher.

"Please?" He said. He sounded pleading. She held her ground for another second and then giggled, relaxing. Sev felt very relieved before he remembered that he wasn't supposed to care what the xenos thought of him. He turned the canteen over once more. He could hear the water sloshing around and couldn't feel any chunks bumping against the side so he took the canteen off. He yelped with pain as the heat burnt him through his gloves. He tossed the canteen and it landed in a nearby snow bank steaming. Illineth pointed at Sev mockingly as she laughed at him for his foolishness. He grimaced as he gingerly pulled the canteen out of the snow and slotted it into place on his hip.

"Let's get moving" He said and stood up to continue on. Illineth caught up to him in a few quick strides and walked next to him. He realised after a moment that she was trying to copy his military style march. He ignored her but it started to get on his nerves. The way she swung her arms and lifted her knees in an exaggerated form of the walk he had been trained to do. She was perfectly rigid and looked like some sort of robot.

"Piss off" he said, frustrated. She continued, throwing him a glance to make sure he was watching.

"Cut it out" he said. He was almost mad but decided to beat her at her own game. He held his rifle loose in his hands and started moving with long strides. He kept his back straight and swung his hips from side, over doing the motion greatly. They walked like this for a while, occasionally throwing glances to see how the other was doing. Eventually they both burst out laughing at how ridiculous they looked.

They stopped and Illineth took a step towards him. She looked up at him. He couldn't see her eyes through her helmet and he was sure that his were barely visible through his mask. They stood there for a moment, not even a foot apart. Suddenly her head shot to the side looking back in the direction they had come.

"Rydym yn cael trafferth" She said. Sev looked back down the roar, fear creeping into his mind. Had something seen their tracks and followed them? He didn't want to admit it but he had been having a really good time and had completely forgotten that they were in the middle of a war zone.

Before he knew what was happening she collided with him, sending him sprawling into a nearby snow bank. He laughed at her deception. She had caught him completely off guard and he yelped in surprise and indignation. But he would not be bested by this xenos. She had landed on top of him and he grabbed her by her slim waist and spun her over, shoving her into the indent he had made in the snow. He pinned her down with his superior weight and jabbed a mocking finger in her face.

"Ewch oddi mi eich dwp Mon Keigh!" She hissed at him with obvious and blatant anger. The humour drained from Sev to be replaced by confusion. He was about to reply when there was the rattling sound of an automatic weapon discharging. Sev ducked, pressing Illineth farther into the snow bank. There were multiple puffs as bullets impacted with the snow around them. Chunks of semi melted snow were thrown into the air and the snow bank steamed in multiple places from where the bullets had impacted.

As soon as the rattle stopped Illineth was up. Sev didn't know how she had gotten out from beneath him so quickly but she did and was dragging him to his feet. The snow bank they had landed in had built up against the wall of a factory. Illineth was running, clambering up the snow bank with Sev dragging dumbly behind her. She gave a final push and with a leap she and Sev crashed through a window at the top of the snow bank. Sev landed, Illineth still clutching his hand. His bad leg impacted first from the three metre drop. He cried out in pain as his leg collapsed under him. Illineth was up trying to tug him to his feet. Sev got up, made it a few steps then collapsed again. His leg couldn't take the weight of his body. Illineth was pleading with him, desperately trying to tug him onwards. And then Sev did something he never would have expected to do.

"Go on without me" he said. He pulled his hand from her grip and gave her a dismissive wave. He stumbled a few more metres and rolled over a conveyer belt. Illineth stood there stunned. Apparently she got the gist of what he was saying and she was as surprised as he was that he was offering to give his life for her. Then she walked over to him. She vaulted the conveyer belt and crouched next to him, drawing her pistol.

"Go!" Sev almost shouted. She braced her hand on the metal machinery and levelled the pistol on the window. Sev rolled into a one kneed firing stance and braced the lasgun against his shoulder, lining his sights up with the smashed in glass. His arms shook. He had been happy for the first time in a long time. He knew he shouldn't have been but he had. He liked being with Illineth, Emperor forbid. He looked over at her. Her hands were shaking like his and her eyes didn't shift from the window.

There was a roar as some sort of vehicle approached and then halted outside. The noise stopped as the engine was cut. Heavy boots could be heard landing in snow with crunches. There was the clatter of guns being cocked and the ring as huge swords were drawn from crude sheaths.

"Alright ladz, they went in 'ere. They can't 'ave gone far, letz go in and find 'em" said a deep gravelly voice.

"Five teefs if youz can bring 'em aloive!" screeched a higher pitched voice.

"And ten if youz bring em dead" spoke a hoarse ragged ork.

There was the crunching of snow as the orks began ascending the snow drift. Sev gritted his teeth. A head appeared in the shattered window. Long ears poked out from under the spotted scarf that covered its head. It craned its head back and forth as it sniffed the air. It was silhouetted against the bright cold light from outside. Sev began depressing the trigger but Illineths hand stopped him. He was used to taking orders and he held his fire. The thumping grew louder and one by one six orks leapt through the window, following the little scarf clad runt.

A big ork, the leader, came through first. He wore a helmet with a big metal spike coming out the top. He had what looked like monstrous sheers on his hand. They opened and closed slowly, as if they had a mind of their own. Four other orks looked relatively standard as far as the orks Sev had seen went. Huge heads protruding from huger chests. They carried an assortment of cleavers, pistols and shoddy assault rifles. The final ork to come clambering through the window held what looked like a flame thrower. A tube connected the contraption to his back and his face was covered by what looked like a giant welding mask.

The orks began fanning out but before they could take more than a few steps Illineth punched forward with her fist. Sev took that as the signal to open fire. One of the orks shuddered as las rounds impacted. It managed a few steps under Sevs concentrated semi auto fire before slumping forwards onto a tray of tools with a crash. Illineths pistol hissed and another orks took a few steps backwards and collapsed against the wall as his chest was ripped to shreds. The leader roared with anger and he charged, two orks following. Sev fired another few shots on the leader but they either failed to get through his leather and plate armour or he was unfazed by the pain. Illineth had more luck and another ork dropped from pistol fire, his head a gory mess.

The lead ork leaped at Illineth, the huge wide open claw swung downwards. Sev was desperately trying to bring his lasgun to bear but stared in horror. The claw was moving too fast, Illineth couldn't possibly dodge it. But dodge she did. She slid under the weapon and brought her crackling power sword up. There was a sizzling sound and then a clatter. The orks weapon, forearm included, slid to the floor. A second later the orks headless body joined it. The final ork faltered and Sev managed to drop it with a series of las shots. He put the magazine into his webbing and slotted in a fresh one. He noticed that his leg felt much better. He must have just strained it slightly as it hurt, but not so bad that he couldn't put weight on it. It was lucky that it wasn't sprained or broken.

Illineth was just flicking the ork blood off her sword when there was a croaking noise. Sev and Illineth spun towards the sound. The flame thrower wielding ork sat on a conveyer belt. The flamer was lowered and the croaking sound was evidently him laughing.

"Quoite a good show you twoz put on for me. 'Ere was me thinkin youd killz them all" he said, sliding off the machinery. He took a few slow steps towards them.

"Shame all good thingz aff to end eh?" there was a cough, and then a roar as the flamer belched forth liquid fire. Sev lunged, pushing Illineth to the ground. They both toppled behind some sort of large boxy looking machine. Fire licked around the edges of their cover and almost scorched Sev who was covering Illineth with his body. They both shrunk back from the edge as far as they could. Over the popping of melting metal and the roar of the flames they could hear the croaking of the orks laughter.

The flames were creeping farther and farther around the edge towards them and the must have been slowly approaching. Sev fumbled on his belt. He pulled out a grenade. There were severe consequences for using grenades without explicit orders from a sergeant but Sev felt that if there was time or a place for breaking such orders without permission it was here and now. He pulled the pin, released the spoon, and his arm braved the flames as he tossed the frag. As soon as it was gone he yanked his arm back. He beat it against the machine they were cowering behind, extinguishing the burning promethium gel that clung to his fatigues. There was a dull crump and a millisecond later there was a massive blast. The shockwave felt like a wall had hitting him. He moaned. Finally there was silence.


End file.
